


Walking in the Wind

by CyberSearcher



Series: Cryptid AU [2]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blizzard!AU, Cole is Tired, Dumbass squad cannot cooperate, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, no beta we die like zane, very smol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:54:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24267778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyberSearcher/pseuds/CyberSearcher
Summary: Cole tried to get his team to work as a team, he tries. But most of the times it’s hit or miss. Mostly miss.His regular visits to the cryptid under the mountain, somehow, always bring him ease.
Relationships: Cole/Zane (Ninjago)
Series: Cryptid AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1752718
Comments: 5
Kudos: 92





	Walking in the Wind

**Author's Note:**

> Massive, massive kudos to Exi and Rail from the Ninjago Discord server I’m on. Honly crap thanks for all the beautiful nuggets of gold ideas to use. 
> 
> And here are some songs that I just put together for this, though they kinda fit with this fic;  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6b0ZAj0RRs&list=RDbzlA36UgFM8&index=5  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDH3ZxchrK4&list=RDbzlA36UgFM8&index=6  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HR_9sEGh20&list=RDbzlA36UgFM8&index=16

Cole shimmied down the ledges of the mountain as the frantic ringing of bells echoed upwards. 

“Damit.” 

The cave was _right there,_ but he couldn’t abandon the village or his team. “Sorry, Frosty. I’ll be back in a sec.” 

Hastily making his way back up the monastery, he found Jay and Kai already grabbing their golden weapons and rushing down the steps. 

“Hurry up boulder brains, or are you scared of the spooky skeletons?” Jay smirked.

Cole didn’t even have time to slap his shoulder as the blue ninja rushed down. “Shut up. Just don’t die down there.” 

Grabbing his scythe and hastily adjusting his armour, he could still hear his two teammates laughing as they ran to the village. He wanted to call out to them from here, to tell them to take this seriously. 

But even if they heard him, Cole doubted they’d listen. 

At least getting down was easy enough for him and he caught up to the two quickly. Skeletons were already running away with the scattered bones of their comrades, but more kept climbing over the hillsides. 

Kai brandished his sword with flourishing sweeps, flames clashing against steel and bones. He kicked one skeleton into a market stand and lunged towards his head, but they rolled out of his way and Kai chased him down. 

The stand soon caught on fire and Cole broke away from his clash to kick snow over the embers. “Watch it you guys! We’re supposed to - argh! - save the place not demolish it!” 

“As if you’re helping either way!” Kai just yelled back.

Jay whips himself into a tornado of crackling light, catching enemies and spitting out their bones everywhere. Cole just managed to block most of the splintered ribcage from a pair of scared villagers hunched behind a barrel. The rest absorbed by his body. 

The ones that made it past struck hard against his side and he resisted the urge to curse out his teammate, one of the villagers had a child in their arms. Cole struck the ground and a short barrier of stone shielded them from the next attack.

“Go, hide in your houses!” He called behind them before vaulting over the barrier. 

The minions weren’t too difficult, it wasn’t until they heard the rumbling of an engine that their cockiness began to waver. Roaring over the snowed hills came one of the underworld war machines. The remaining skeletons crackled and flocked around the reinforcements while the ninja stood shoulder to shoulder.

A twisted metal ballista shot forward. The earth ninja didn’t have time to summon another wall. Instead, he braced his feet and struck it mid-air with his scythe. It cut the meat of his shoulder, but scattered harmlessly to the ground. 

“Cole!” Kai yelled in alarm, reaching for the taller teen. 

“Don’t let them get closer!” He shouted, pushing off his hand. “Draw their fire away from the people. Kai, cover me! Jay, keep the rest of them occupied.” 

At least now, the others didn’t question his orders. Jay broke away and jumped onto a rooftop, striking a good chunk of the invaders with a bolt of lighting while taunting them as they loaded another bolt. Kai rushed forward beside him, cutting down anyone who got too close. 

The war machine was close enough to the steep edge of the hills, but far enough from the village for this to work. Cole spun his golden scythe over his head and strikes the ground. The earth rumbled and the skeletons on top of the machine eyed the ground with suspicion. 

Then there was a violent cracking sound, a fissure split the stone and suddenly the massive wheels were spinning to try and keep its footing. Cole didn’t risk pulling his scythes blade out just yet, channeling his power to make sure that it would crash and burn.

Soon the rock broke away and the entire thing rolled over itself down the hillside. The ninja leaned over and saw the wreck of twisted metal and broken stones below them. Cole breathed out a heavy sigh of relief. 

Most of the other skeletons retreated once their support got demolished. Kai and Jay stood in the village center, bragging about their kill counts and flashy skills. Cole quickly folded up his cut sleeve, thankful that the black fabric hid any bloodstains. 

“Well I got at least six when I fried those bone sacks.” Jay insisted. “You got, what, maybe three with your firecracker stick?” 

“Excuse me, I took down at least ten of those guys.” 

“Would you two cut it out?” Cole snapped, gesturing to the mess of scorch marks on the walls of buildings. “What’s the point in protecting this place if there’s nothing left to protect!” 

Jay rolled his eyes. “Calm down, it’s nothing crazy. Nobody died. Besides, you took out an entire chunk of the mountain.”

“Hey! At least I did it away from all the people! What’s your - you know what, forget it. I’ll see you guys back at the Monastery.” 

He slung his weapon over his shoulder and broke into a brisk jog. If they followed him, he didn’t look back to check. 

Master Wu - to his surprise - wasn’t present. Cole searched each room but found no trace of the elderly man. He still kept his eyes behind his back as he dug around the first aid kit for bandages and disinfectant.

He heard one of the sliding doors click down the hall. Cole hastily stuffed the supplies and newfound trinkets into his hoodie pocket, having changed to hide the injury. He kicked the kit under his bed as Nya opened the door. 

“Heya. Uh, is everything okay?” She asked. “Did you guys get hurt? I heard something big fall all the way up here.”

“Just some sleketons tryin’a cause trouble. Nothing serious,” Cole shrugged, then bit down the instinct to flinch at the stab of pain, “Firework and Zap-trap will be up soon. I’m goin’ out for a bit.”

“Okay.” She said. He knew that tone, this conversation wasn’t over. “But why’d you come up here then?” 

“Just had to grab some things. I’ll be back in a few hours, maybe you should check up on your bro when he comes up.”

“Cole,” Nya reached for his arm. He prayed she didn’t feel him jerk, “just… just be careful. I’m worried. I know Kai can be stupid with how he shows it, but he’s worried for you too.”

He gave her a pinched smile and carefully removed her hand. Cole didn’t want to argue about how his teammates showed their overflowing concern for their leader. 

“Yea, thanks. Got it.” 

As he climbed back down, he hid in a shelf of rocks when he spotted red and blue dots ascending the stairs. Cole hurried down the cliffs and out of sight, thankfully his injuries weren’t extreme and he could climb without trouble. 

The pain he could ignore, it was the anxiety chewed away at Coles insides that stung. Even the sky itself seemed angry, with bitter winds kicking his hair and rattling pebbles off the mountainside. He worried for Blizzard, he hadn't had time to check up on him after everything.

Soon, he stood in front of the gaping mouth of the cave. “Blizzard?” Cole called out once he stepped inside. “I’m here, sorry, had to take care of something.” 

It was cold - that wasn’t anything new - but something felt off. The air felt too still and there was an uneasy edge to the silence that hung thick in the open emptiness. 

Cole looked to the ground in front of him. Behind one of the columns of stone grew a thick, creeping layer of ice. He leaned around and saw the cryptid hiding behind it, the floor below him almost entirely coated in frozen blue. 

“Hi.” He took a cautious step forward. “It’s me Bliz, Cole. Don’t be a stranger, c’mon.” 

Blizzard did walk into clear view, meeting Cole halfway. There was something searching in his eyes, Cole tried to pin down the expression. He settled on just worrying. Then he felt something cold brush his hand and he looked down to see Blizzard reaching for him.  
He blinked, but offered his palm to him. The winter cryptid took it with both hands, raising it up to chest height. Cole felt his tongue tie itself in tight knots. But then he flinched when he felt a biting chill. Where Blizzard touched, pale frost grew over dark skin.

“Hey, uh,” He stuttered, “I’m sorry if I worried you, but look, I’ve got some new stuff for you to try out.” 

Cole hoped that the cryptid's attention would be drawn away from his fixation on his hand. He could feel his palm starting to numb and his shoulder began to ache again. Reaching into his hoodie, Cole produced some painted sketches of flowers, cut outs from magazines and a rubix cube. 

“I couldn’t take too much without the others noticing,” he said, holding the items in his free hand, unsure if he should pull his other away by force, “here, you can have ‘em. Maybe one day we could go there.” 

Blizzard did let go of him, the frost and ice slowly began to melt away. Cole wiped it off on his hoodie and found a patch of smooth ground to sit on. Blizzard followed him, eyes now focused on the pictures. 

He pulled out the roll of bandages and pushed up his hoodie. Biting into the fabric, Cole leaned down to look at the injury. It wasn’t too deep and had clotted over, but old blood still smeared his skin. Using the still damp fabric, he cleaned away what he could before applying the appointment. 

Cole began to wrap the bandage around his bicep when he felt the hairs on his head prickle. Blizzard was staring at him, head tilted ever so slightly. He tried to not let his discomfort show.

“Uh, hope you liked the drawings?” He asked. 

The cryptid nodded and held up a chunk of ice. Cole frowned. Then he saw the slightly distorted image of a springtime field he’d painted suspended in the clear ice. 

“Oh.” 

He didn’t know how to interpret that. Blizzard - perhaps sensing his uncertainty - set down the picture. He tapped over his heart, flattened his palm over his frozen shell, then pointed to Cole. 

The master of earth chewed at his bottom lip, trying to understand what that meant. “You… care for me?”

Blizzard nodded, then shook his head. 

“So, yes, but that’s not what you meant?”

He nodded.

Cole crossed his legs and leaned his chin in his hand. Blizzard picked up another picture - a postcard of a sunset beach - and brushed his fingers over it gingerly. More ice washed over the picture and soon it too was encased. Blizzard pressed the stiff sheet over his heart. Then his hand hovered for a moment, pausing mid-air.

“Do you - “ He couldn’t put his intent into words. So Cole simply stepped forward and let the cryptids palm brush his chest. 

He sucked in a harsh breath as the cold seeped through his hood. Blizzard’s head was still tilted, eyes glowing even wider. The frost over his face creeped up over his cheek. 

Cole forced himself to relax. “It’s… it’s okay. Show me.” 

The cryptid was still staring down where his hand pressed against him. Then, layers of white and pale blues slowly reached upwards and solidified into sheets of solid ice. Cole focused on his breathing, forcing himself not to overthink what was happening. 

He watched as Blizzard’s eyes squinted ever so slightly as he focused his power into creating the odd growth of ice across his chest. The glow of his eyes fluctuated and somehow, Cole knew where the cryptid was staring. 

A thick chestplate blossomed over his sweater, then Blizzard's hand brushed up over his injured soldier. His eyes nervously flitting up to meet him. 

The cold on his wound made him bite his teeth - the cool hand went stiff for a moment - but Cole soon found the touch soothing to the sting. 

He watched his hands pause right over where they both knew the bandages were hidden. Cole quietly noted how much smaller Blizzards hands were compared to his. 

The human glanced up to the cryptid. Cole realized he could see his mouth proper now. Thin lips were pressed into a tense line and his eyes had a slight curve from concern. As his fingers worked across his arm, Could would see his mouth twitch in concentration. 

The soft pressure from his bicep soon lifted. Blizzards fingertips pulled away, hovering between them again. His face was awash with tiny marks and signs that only Cole could read. 

There wasn’t much space left between them. He took a half step forward and reached up to hold Blizzards hand. 

His skin was firm, smooth under his touch. Cole couldn’t hide the smile when little crystals of frost grew across their tangled fingers. He pressed his cold hand over his heart. 

“I think I get it.” He whispered. 

Blizzard was leaning forward, but not looming. Cole smiled up at him and he felt something flutter in his chest when he saw the tiny, hope-filled expression that met him. 

“You don’t like seeing me hurt. You want to keep me safe.” Cole said. “And… and I don’t really know what to say. I think you’re one of the few who wants that.” 

He closed the gap between them. Cole rested his cheek on his shoulder. 

“So… thank you. Thanks for caring.” 

There was no heartbeat under his ear, but a soft, pleasant humming in its place. Winds brushed against his cheek and he breathed out a laugh against Blizzards neck.


End file.
